Chinese laptop and tablet manufacturer Lenovo is rumoured to be in discussion with Taiwanese smartphone company HTC for a potential takeover. The latter firm has recently posted the first quarterly losses in its history and that has led some to believe that it would be open to acquisition talks.

Rumours point to Lenovo as being a prospective buyer because it is said that executives from China visited HTC in August for a "secret meeting". Speculation suggests that the company is readying a bid for the HTC brand and will continue to manufacture handsets under the HTC name, in much the same way Microsoft plans to do with Nokia when its particular acquisition has been finalised.

It is something Lenovo has done in the past. It acquired the ThinkPad brand from IBM and continues to use it. The company also bought Medion two years ago and uses that brand for certain products. And while the Chinese manufacturer does make its own Android smartphones, it doesn't have much of a presence outside of China. HTC would change that.

If a Lenovo acquisition is on the cards and more than just speculation, it will be a while before we find out any further details. These things can take time. Pocket-lint will bring you the latest when we get it.